I'd strongly encourage you to check your oil more frequently. A good
practice is to check it every 500 miles or so, especially if you know you
consume oil or are going to be taking a long trip. Also, as you already
likely know, you don't have to wait till the oil level gets below the fill
line or the oil pressure light is illuminated to add. By that time it is
already at least a quart low, and since there are only 4 quarts in the
system when full, it could easily result in a major (and very expensive)
mechanical problem. You should still keep track of what you add between
changes since this provides some indication of the overall health of the
engine.

Our '96 SL1 with 120K (mostly highway) miles goes through a little over a
quart between changes (every 3K miles), but a small portion of this leaks
onto our driveway so the amount burned is probably 3/4 of the total loss.
By the way, I use 10W30 in the summer and the manufacturer recommended 5W30
in the winter. I only mention this since the heavier oil helps increase the
oil pressure and reduce consumption (at the price of slightly reduced fuel
economy.)

Bob

"CuriousOnly" > wrote in message
...
> I have a '97 Saturn SL1, that I have not had any major problems with since
I
> purchased it. I have noticed, however, that if I do an oil change myself
or
> take it to a shop to do it, there always appears to be a bit less than
what
> I would normally expect to see. One tech said that Saturns are notorious
> for burning oil. Is this true? If it is, no big deal, I still like my
car,
> but I wanted to make sure that there might not be something else wrong.
The
> engine never overheats (at least as far as the gauges are concerned) I
never
> run OUT of oil, and I have yet to see any leaking anywhere from the engine
> or on the ground underneath. I've never noticed this on other vehicles
> (ruling out a normal allowance of burned oil)
>
> Any ideas?